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Arnold Sommerfeld (1868–1951) was among the most significant contributors to the birth of modern theoretical physics. At the University of Munich, beginning in 1906, he trained two generations of theoretical physicists. Eight of his students (among them Werner Heisenberg, Wolfgang Pauli, and Hans Bethe) went on to receive Nobel Prizes. In Crafting the Quantum, Suman Seth offers the first English-language book-length study of Sommerfeld's work, presenting an intellectual and cultural history of theoretical physics in Germany viewed through the lens of Sommerfeld's research and pedagogy.

Seth examines the practical origins of much of the research undertaken by Sommerfeld at the university, some of which addressed problems carried over from his years of teaching at an engineering school. Some of the research done by Sommerfeld and his students found applications during World War I to such problems as the stability of aircraft wings and the functioning and directional operation of antennas. Seth describes in detail Sommerfeld’s pedagogical practice, including his characteristic amalgamation of research and teaching. He relates the history of the “older” quantum theory and Sommerfeld’s engagement with the work of Max Planck and Niels Bohr and compares Sommerfeld’s “physics of problems” to Planck’s and Bohr’s more abstract “physics of principles.” To illuminate the nature of Sommerfeld’s work, Seth offers detailed descriptions of the contrasting work of other theorists. Seth’s innovative account challenges idealist depictions of the nature of theoretical work in physics, describing not only modes of practice but also the multiple areas of intellectual, political, and social life from which science draws resources and to which it contributes.

Transformations: Studies in the History of Science and Technology series ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Crafting the Quantum
Crafting the Quantum is a detailed historical study of the Sommerfeld school, which included some of the most important physicists of the twentieth century including Wolfgang Pauli and Werner Heisenberg.Arnold Sommerfeld trained at least eight Nobel laureates and his Munich based school was the most successful educational institution for theoretical physics in the twentieth century.Seth's book takes a close look at why the training Sommerfeld offered his students was so successful.He also provides a detailed study of the Sommerfeld school's contribution to the development of Quantum mechanics and the way in which their problem orientated approach fused mathematics, physics and engineering in order to pursue solutions to specific physical questions.It is a very impressive piece of work both because of the level of scholarship in both the English and German sources and its grasp of the physics.It will be of enormous interest to physicists and engineers as well as historians of science.

Too simplistic!!!
This book is too simplistic and very reductionist. The writing style is also very philosophically diffuse. Lack of engagement with the proper German sources has made the analysis all too easy. ... Read more

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Arnold Sommerfeld's "Mathematische Theorie der Diffraction" marks a milestone in optical theory, full of insights that are still relevant today. In a stunning tour de force, Sommerfeld derives the first mathematically rigorous solution of an optical diffraction problem. Indeed, his diffraction analysis is a surprisingly rich and complex mix of pure and applied mathematics, and his often-cited diffraction solution is presented only as an application of a much more general set of mathematical results. The body of Sommerfeld's work is devoted to the systematic development of a method for deriving solutions of the wave equation on Riemann surfaces, a fascinating but perhaps underappreciated topic in mathematical physics.

This complete translation, reflecting substantial scholarship, is the first publication in English of Sommerfeld's original work. The extensive notes by the translators are rich in historical background and provide many technical details for the reader. A detailed account of the previous diffraction analyses of Kirchhoff and Poincaré provides a context for the striking originality and power of Sommerfeld's ideas.

The availability of this translation is an enriching contribution to the community of mathematical and theoretical physicists. ... Read more

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A thorough analysis of exactly soluble models in nonlinear classical systems and in quantum systems as well as recent studies in conformal quantum field theory have revealed the structure of quantum groups to be an interesting and rich framework for mathematical and physical problems. In this book, for the first time, authors from different schools review in an intelligible way the various competing approaches: inverse scattering methods, 2-dimensional statistical models, Yang-Baxter algebras, the Bethe ansatz, conformal quantum field theory, representations, braid group statistics, noncommutative geometry, and harmonic analysis. ... Read more

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In recent years nonlinear and irreversible quantum mechanicsis becoming increasingly important because of the availability ofprecision experiments. There are new and successful attempts tounderstand quantum irreversibility. The development of generalizedsymmetries has to led to new families of evolution equations for pureand mixed states. On the one hand, this timely symposium coversnonlinear and irreversible quantum mechanics, the theory ofquantization methods, causality and various problems important in thiscontext. On the other hand, it reports the development of quantumgroup symmetries, and of methods to construct deformed quantummechanical evolution equations like the q-deformed Schrödingerequations. ... Read more

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The Theory of the Top. Volume II. Development of the Theory in the Case of the Heavy Symmetric Top is the second in a series of four self-contained English translations of the classic and definitive treatment of rigid body motion. Graduate students and researchers interested in theoretical and applied mechanics will find this a thorough and insightful account.Other works in this series include Volume I. Introduction to the Kinematics and Kinetics of the Top, Volume III. Perturbations. Astronomical and Geophysical Applications, and Volume IV. Technical Applications of the Theory of the Top. ... Read more

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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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This Book Is In German. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This Book Is In German. ... Read more